


Dust

by ChibiSquirt



Series: Stony Bingo [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Gentle Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 15:26:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiSquirt/pseuds/ChibiSquirt
Summary: Aftermath of a (mostly) successful mission.





	Dust

The battle had been hard, but it wasn’t like they hadn’t  _ won,  _ or anything.  Yeah, they probably—okay, definitely—would have done a better job if they’d had the Hulk with them—or, well, actually, if they’d had  _ anybody  _ else with them; it was a bit of a close call with just Tony, Steve, and Nat—but the important thing was, they had managed to take out the creepy guy with the antennae and the fireballs and the  _ holy shit, explosions!  _ before he could do too much damage.

Mostly.  There was one building that would never be the same.

And, okay, it was some pretty bad luck that Steve had been in the building when it exploded—rotten luck, just awful, Tony was already planning on buying him some chocolates and a fruit basket, and maybe one of those little bobbleheads of A-Rod, because Tony was  _ perennially incapable  _ of  _ not being an asshole— _ but Steve was fine, he’d checked in already on the comms—“Go get ‘em, Iron Man!”  Jesus, Steve was such a walking cliche—and the important part was, they had gotten the Bad Guy before he’d managed to take out more than, like,  _ at most  _ 0.04% of New York.

At  _ most.   _

Honestly.

But Tony’s arguments in support of his own awesomeness had never held much weight with other people, and this was no exception, and the Widow was glaring at him something fierce, and he knew—just  _ knew— _ that he was going to have some Paperwork to do in the wake of this farce.

_ Maybe I can have JARVIS do it. _

It hadn’t worked yet, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t, exactly.

“See you at home,” Tony said quickly—maybe if he dodged fast enough, somebody else would pick up the drudge work; worth a shot, right?—and then took off, heading home at a rate literally of knots. 

He was already out of the suit and drinking a martini by the time Steve and Nat arrived, which—hey!  Success!  They couldn’t make him do paperwork when he was inebriated, could they?  Not that he was, it was only one drink, but still— 

—aaaand, yes, apparently they could, because Nat didn’t even _say_ anything.  She just held up the papers, slapped them down on the walnut end-table that Steve liked, and stalked out again.

“Worth a shot,” Tony muttered, tossing back the last of the martini.

“Not really,” Steve said, amused at his antics.  “We had to walk home; the explosion had traffic slowed to a standstill.”

“I think that was just rush hour—” Tony started.

Steve cut him off.   “It doesn’t matter,” he said.  “You knew I was fine.”

“I did.  You checked in on the comms; you  _ said.” _

“I was fine,” Steve repeated.  “You didn’t need to pull out the big guns for this one—”

“Oh, come on!  That wasn’t for you!  Why would that be for you?  He was blowing up  _ buildings,  _ there were  _ people  _ in danger!  Not  _ you,  _ in particular, just...  you know...   _ people." _

“It’s okay.”  Steve reached out and cupped his cheek, kissing him gently.  His hair was coated in dust, Tony noticed before his eyes fell shut, and he had mud caked along one cheek.  His uniform was ripped in a dozen places, and there were bruises forming everywhere, the tips of his fingers purpled and dark where they had been caught under some large chunk of debris.  

But he was alive.

Alive, and warm, and yes, getting dirt on Tony’s clean silk-print shirt, but— 

Steve.  He was Steve, and he was precious, and he kissed gently, always, and Tony kept waiting, kept  _ expecting  _ him to turn cruel, to turn dangerous, but he never, ever did, and it broke Tony’s heart, time after time, all over again.

Steve pulled back.  Not far; the width of five hairs, maybe, his mouth hovering, his forehead smearing gritty against Tony’s own.  

“Alright?” he asked.

“You were on the comms,” Tony said again, aware as he did it that it wasn’t an answer.  “I knew you were okay.”

Steve’s mouth quirked up, sassy—tempting—a fraction of an inch away from Tony’s.  It was pink and shiny, the only clean part of him, and Tony thought that maybe might mean he had dirt on his own face by now.  “You blew the hell out of that guy, anyway; pretty drastic for a guy who knew I was okay.”

Tony groaned, and let his eyes flutter shut again.  “It’s good to be sure,” he admitted.  “To see you... in the flesh, as it were.”  He ran his hand through Steve’s short hair, frowning at the traces of grit he encountered.

“Hmmm.”  It was a considerate hum from a considerate man, and Tony shuddered under his regard.  He kissed Steve quickly, almost impulsively, and then hid from Steve’s gaze by burying his face in the reinforced shoulder of the suit.

“Come on,” Steve said, wrapping a hand around the back of Tony’s neck and squeezing, possessive and sure.  “I’m covered in dirt; let’s go get cleaned up.”  He pulled away, walking at a sedate pace towards the showers.

Tony, completely clean except for where he had touched Steve, followed in his wake.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my fill for square S-5, "KINK: Messy/dirty". Idunno, am I allowed to claim it for a Kink square if they don't do more than kiss? Does this work?


End file.
